Bhubaneswar: After reviewing the flood situation in the state, Special Relief Commissioner Pradeep Jena on Saturday informed that the excess floodwater is being released through four sluice gates of Hirakud Dam while the water level in major rivers of Odisha is gradually receding.
Briefing the media persons about the flood situation, the Odisha SRC said that the Deep Depression of the Bay of Bengal has crossed Odisha. Now water is being released through 4 gates in Hirakud. Today afternoon, the water level in Hirakud was 620.43 feet. While 1.96 lakh cusecs of water is entering the reservoir every second, 1.2 lakh cusecs of water is being discharged from the reservoir. About 5.90 lakh cusecs of water is flowing through Khairamal while the water flow at Badamula was 7.67 lakh cusecs.
Similarly, 8.35 lakh cusecs of water is flowing at Mundali. The water level is gradually decreasing in all places, including Mundali. If necessary, the 4 gates opened at Hirakud will also be closed, the SRC added.
According to a government press release, 2232 villages under 607 gram panchayats in 73 blocks of 13 districts have been affected by the floods. While 763 villages of the state are still flooded, 4.72 lakh people are marooned and about 7.13 lakh people are affected. In the meanwhile, 1.04 lakh people are being provided cooked food in 248 relief camps in all these areas.
Around 1866 houses were damaged in the flood while 3916 houses were damaged in the heavy rains. Similarly, about 263 gram panchayats in 52 blocks of 8 districts have been affected by heavy rains, while 524 villages have been affected and 26,982 people have been affected.
While the average rainfall in the state is 42.6 mm in low pressure triggered rains, the maximum rainfall of 135.5 mm was recorded in Kandhamal, followed by 125.2 mm in Mayurbhanj, 98.8 mm in Boudh, 97.1 mm in Balasore, and 92.6 mm in Kalahandi.
In the flood-affected areas, 3.87 lakh electricity consumers have been affected, out of which, the power supply to 3.64 lakh people have been restored.
Similarly, while 163 medical relief centres have been opened by the health department, 115 mobile healthcare teams have been deployed. Around 42,000 ORS packets and 1.77 lakh halogen tablets have been distributed in the affected area. During this period, 6,077 common diseases and 12 snakebite cases were treated.
Besides, 193 veterinary teams have been deployed in flood-ravaged areas. While 407 camps have been set up, more than 18,000 domestic and stray animals have been treated. A total of 613.983 metric tons of fodder has been provided to 10 flood-hit districts.
While 160 pipe water supply systems have been disrupted in flood-affected areas, only 9 pipelines have been restored. This apart, 618 tube wells have been cleaned, 1.5 lakh water bottles & 7.5 lakh water pouches distributed and 153 mobile water supply tanks deployed to alleviate the drinking water issue of the people in the affected regions.
